It's Not About the Sexism

I am so livid at these bogus charges of sexism being levied against the big, bad white senators who oppose the prospect of a Susan Rice nomination as Secretary of State. 

A presumptive nominee can be opposed because of her substantive policy, her views, her covering up for the Administration over Libya. Is Kelly Ayotte expressing skepticism because she's a sexist? What about Susan Collins? What about Dana Milbank?

Rice’s pugilism provoked the Russians to weigh in this week in opposition to her nomination as secretary of state. The Russian business daily Kommersant quoted an anonymous Russian foreign ministry official as saying that Rice, who quarreled with Russia over Syria, is “too ambitious and aggressive,” and her appointment would make it “more difficult for Moscow to work with Washington.”

Compared with this, the flap over Libya is relatively minor — but revealing. It’s true that, in her much-criticized TV performance, she was reciting talking points given to her by the intelligence agencies. But that’s the trouble. Rice stuck with her points even though they had been contradicted by the president of the Libyan National Assembly, who, on CBS’s “Face the Nation” just before Rice, said there was “no doubt” that the attack on Americans in Benghazi “was preplanned.” Rice rebutted the Libyan official, arguing — falsely, it turned out — that there was no evidence of such planning.

True, Rice was following orders from the White House, which she does well. But the nation’s top diplomat needs to show more sensitivity and independence — traits Clinton has demonstrated in abundance. Obama can do better at State than Susan Rice.

What about Jennifer Rubin?

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar as Dr. Freud said. Maybe the uniform criticism from Republicans and the refreshing candor coming from liberals in good standing at the New York Times is actually based on the merits, Rice's that is. Truth be told, she was a washout in the Clinton administration (where she sat idly by while the Rwandan genocide unfolded), signed on with Obama's campaign where she was an uncommonly partisan foreign policy adviser, had to be hushed when she attacked another woman, Hillary Clinton, and then wound up at the United Nations, where she has had the most undistinguished career of any U.N. representative in recent memory. (She rounded up all of eight "no" votes on the Palestinian declaration of statehood and has made serial excuses for the heinous Human Rights Council. A convenient list of her underachievements can be found here.) That's before we got to Benghazi. And her investment portfolio.

What about Maureen Dowd?

Are the Republican senators unreasonable? Or is the secretary of state-manqué undiplomatic? Did the senators sandbag Susan Rice? Or did Rice further inflame a tense situation? Is it a case of shooting the messenger and playing politics? Or is national security dangerously infected with politics?

It seems as if it would have been simple enough for Rice to quickly admit that the administration talking points she used on the Sept. 16 Sunday shows about the slaughter in Benghazi were misleading. But she went silent. She has no wartime consigliere and, aside from the president’s angry postelection defense of Rice, the White House — perhaps relieved that she was taking the heat rather than the president — wasn’t running a strong damage control operation that clarified matters.

Were critics of Condoleeza Rice accused of being sexists? No?

It makes me ragey that you can't criticize a women, or a black women, and the leftist members of the press not accuse you of racism and/or sexism. It's a McCarthy-ite tactic designed to shut down opposition by placing the label of bigotry on you. Don't like Obama? You are a bigot. Don't like Hillary? Sexist. It's almost an SNL sketch ludicrous, is it not?

But that's not how some see it. Frankly, most Americans would have no clue that Susan Rice was black if it was not for the relentlessness of the media expounding upon that point. The hypocrisy of this is my rage of the day. It's not about the sexism. Not even close.

No More Detroit?

Detroit could be wiped off the map.

WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick reports some state Republicans are talking about giving the city the option to vote itself into bankruptcy. And mid-Michigan Senator Rick Jones said all options should be considered — including dissolving the city.

More bad news...the bond rating keeps getting cut. 

And the Packard plant could be seized.

Next year, I believe, is a mayoral election. Dave Bing is a goner. I'm not sure what the city can do to find new leadership, other than let Governor Snyder appoint a mayor and all new city council. Anyone and everyone he'd pick would be better options than the inept leadership the city is stuck with.

But again, elections have consequences. And if the voters want these incompetent hacks running things, go for it. But accept the fact that the city is unsustainable in its current incarnation.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121129/METRO01/211290431#ixzz2Dd7bVJpn

The Iron Curtain

I went to Heritage at lunch today to listen to Anne Applebaum speak about her new book, "Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe." This New Yorker piece captures much of the book's tone. I've finished the first half, where she details how Eastern Europe--focusing on Poland, East Germany, and Hungary--were subsumed by totalitarianism exerted by Stalin. From youth subjugation, to the suppression of religious, to the takeover of radio, police control, and the entire eradication of everything civil society stood for, the entirety of these countries was overwhelmed.  She paints a vivid portrait of that region after it was literally destroyed in World War II. She also articulates the fear, desperation, and utter exhaustion of a people who were tired of losing their homes, businesses, and families in the agonies of war. And though she does not focus on it, one can only wonder why and how the United States let this happen. It was some sort of grand deal, some grand exchange, to just let the Soviet do want they want.  And so many what could have been.

I kept thinking of North Korea during her remarks, and the parallels to that regime, which also clamped down on human rights and has relied on fear and brainwashing to maintain their strangle hold of control. We sat back and let Eastern Europe lose nearly two generations, and have again for the North Koreans. Could we have prevented either? I don't know. Should we have?

The New Yorker piece makes clear that totalitarian control is not absolute. Even Applebaum marveled and how young Polish citizens, only one generation removed from Soviet control, travel freely across Europe as de facto Westerners. And questions of Soviet control have been replaced with questions on EU absolutism.

But for multiple generations of North Koreans, they suffer, largely in silence. What to be done?

North Korean Holocaust

I've read a few books this year on North Korea, including Melanie Kirkpatrick's Escape from North Korea and Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. Both dramatically bear testimony to the dire human rights situation in North Korea. Starvation, torture, forced sexual slavery, false imprisonment, etc.

Adrian Hong recently spoke at an event, and his remarks offered more urgency to addressing the desperation there.

Hong discusses the immense dangers that North Korean refugees face after crossing the border into China, where they can face imprisonment, sex trafficking and often a return home to much worse. “To go through that much risk, whatever you’re escaping from back home has to be pretty bad,” he says. “Extraordinarily bad. Far worse than whatever you’re facing to get out of that place. So North Korea is that thing. It is that bad.”

I'm going to keep on the look out for programs in DC about this, and I wish I had seen Kirkpatrick at a book event.  Yes, the media is laughing at China's party paper buying the Onion's portrayal of Kim Jong Un as "Sexiest Man Alive."  But there's nothing humorous about the situation over there. It truly may be a Holocaust with so many people dying, and so few caring.  That's the parallel to the most infamous 20th century Holocaust.

Thankful in Dallas

We spent four days in Dallas over Thanksgiving. We participated in the 8 mile Turkey Trot on Thursday morning. A great race, though crowded. I am sure I negative splitted, considering the heat and the slow go at the start. 1:14:39 is by no means great, but I'll take it. It was the top 1/3 for ladies, and there were some very in shape runners. Slow ones were in the 5K.

Besides hanging out with the nephews and niece, I also did Pinot's Palette with my SILs. I guess it was fun to be artistic and engage in a 6th grade art project, but really, it was not for me. Maybe another time with a less complex piece, right?

Other than that, we ate at the infamous Kuby's where our nephew was kicked out of. We also had lunch at Dodie's, worked out, and ate and drank to our heart's content.

And now we're back to reality. Can Christmas vacation hurry up and come?

One Day More

So I was hoping today would be nice and slow, but with the impromptu car pick up at Dulles and the last minute call to help tonight, not so much. But we'll soon be off to Dallas, and that will be enough to clear my head for a few days. Forget what's election related, work related, house related, financial related, etc. etc. Just be thankful for another year with my family, my job, my health, my friends, despite all of the crappy stuff that can happen. Just thankful.

So one day more. And that day is half over already. Thankful for that, too.

Conspiracy Silliness Edition

Is Krauthammer right? Did the Administration hold the affair over Petraeus' head in order to receive favorable testimony on Benghazi? They would not do that, would they?

I really am surprised that People magazine went ahead and put the sexiest man alive on the cover of their upcoming issue, as opposed to the Petraeus affair.

And how in the world is this woman Jill Kelly asking for diplomatic protection? I mean, Ambassador Stevens did not even receive it as his embassy was attacked on 9/11.  But a social party planning queen is able to ask for it. Silliness.

It's time to move on items with more substance. Like discussions on substantive due process, the protection of religious conscience rights, and the separation of powers.

The Petraeus Scandal

Count me as slightly obsessed with the Petraeus scandal. Yes, I was going through withdrawals of news consumption in the few days after the election, before which I just stared at my twitter feed and refreshed blogs and Drudge Report. (Yep, one of those conservatives who only reads the same RW material!).  But this scandal is juicy. Yep, between the daughter's blog, the DC setting, the scandalously threatening emails, and the sad spouse, it's scintillating. But there's a humanity to it that you just feel bad about the entire thing. It's like he made one huge mistake, took full responsibility, and gave up his post. And his family is being punished by seeing his photograph and the mistress (in her 15 minutes of fame) splashed everywhere.

And then you add  Libya, and with the specter of the Benghazi hearings this week, and a lame duck Congress, and the "when did the President know?" questions, then yeah, it's a DC soap storm. Ultimately, sadly, in DC sex sells and maybe that will finally put light on the scandal.

For now, I hope the family can heal, and all of those innocents brought to the middle of this unwittingly, they can go back to being anonymous. The only good thing is that all of the RIP conservative stories have been pushed off the front burner. Scandals sells more than ineptitude.

Ready for the Weekend

It's the last free one for a while. And there's stuff to do..Crafty Bastards is open at Union Market. I am going to the Limited 50% off sale and Target. And watching football and reading. Not to mention a quiet Saturday evening, while the husband is off to a bachelor party.

So yes, I will spend some time thinking about this week before moving on. The more I read and think about, the angrier I get. Elizabeth Warren, for example, is an incapable fraud who could not even complete a press conference. And massive layoffs to prepare for Obamacare.  And Petraeus is probably going to take the fall for Libya. Unreal.

So maybe I do need a break from all of this. 

Edited to say...Petraeus had an affair? OMG. I mean, I just find that implausible. How can the head of the CIA be that stupid? Is this a massive cover-up for Libya? I mean, the timing of this is suspect. Three days after an election on a  Friday afternoon. I mean, I am speechless.... 

Two Day Post-Mortem

So one of those most horrifying things about eight years of Obama (yeah, I said horrifying) is thinking about his legal and judiciary legacy. It's widely expected that Eric Holder will step down. The list of replacements for his is just awful. Awful. Janet Napolitano? Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Really? I am almost hoping it's McCaskill, purely to get her out of MO, but that is not likely.

I don't want to think about the courts. You need to pray that Scalia and Kennedy stay healthy. And the latter has a big enough ego not to go. I suspect Ginsburg will step down, and I hope it's not til 2014. Status quo can work for now.  

There's alot of heartbreak after the election, for jobs that will go unfilled and opportunities lost. And a lot of talented individuals won't have the opportunity to serve, because four years from now, anything can change.  

But yeah, just on the issues I care about, the judicial/legal landscape is frightening. The politicization of DOJ will continue, second tier affirmative action candidates will continue to serve, and incompetence will be rewarded. But hey, you get what you vote for. 

And it's not like Romney picks in these areas would be perfect. Reagan appointed O'Connor and Bush appointed Souter.  But the odds would be remarkably better with a President Romney for a Thomas or Alito.

After

I'm taking a little break from social media. I need to stay away from the gloating, the heralding of a liberal savior sent to save the world from big, bad conservatives. 

Roger Kimball seems quite eloquent.

For conservatives, it is a depressing situation. Ron is right, too, about “the coming crisis of a growing entitlement state” and the myriad foreign policy challenges, not least the challenges of radical Islam, that Obama, and the country at large, will continue to face. I fear that what an English friend just wrote me is true:

You just don’t care about being a Great Power any longer. That’s what this is about. The world should start sucking up to China instead now, as Americans have shown they’ve no appetite for world leadership any longer. You’ve had a century in the sun, and now you’ve decided to become Sweden instead of shouldering the burden. The 47% have won and you’re going to slip into social democracy and in 4 years time no-one — Christie, Rubio, Ryan — will be able to do anything about it.

RIP American Exceptionalism

It is said that the one unforgivable sin is despair. Depression is not quite despair, but it is an allied and a corrosive sentiment. I agree with Ron that “it is essential that conservative intellectuals do not abandon the effort to change the culture . . . and do all possible to challenge the ascension of a failed intellectual liberal ideology, whether it be in the form of Progressivism, liberalism or socialism.” But I misread and misread badly both the mood of the country and the depth of support for Obama’s failed policies. I will doubtless get around to rejoining Ron in the battle, but a little hiatus for reflection will not come amiss.

And Jonah:

That Mitt Romney got fewer votes than John McCain is dismaying on any number of levels. We were told, by strategists and by what seemed like common sense, that the McCain coalition was a floor for Romney to build up from. The possibility that it was in fact a ceiling is pretty awful to contemplate. It is also pretty infuriating when you think about what the Romney campaign was telling us about their path to 270.

I’ll be blunt: I do not think Mitt Romney ran a good campaign. Don’t get me wrong, I think he worked his heart out as did many who worked for him. I think he made himself into the best candidate he could (which is different than saying he was a great candidate). But I also think that Romney’s theory of the contest was wrong. As I wrote at the time, the Republican convention was a mess. I think Romney strategist Stu Stevens’ contempt for ideas – never mind conservative ideas – was absurd. I think the failure of the Romney campaign to offer a compelling explanation of any kind (at least until the second debate) for how it wasn’t a third Bush term was fatal (as I discussed here and elsewhere). Politics is about persuasion. And persuasion requires making serious arguments. Stevens, by all accounts, has contempt for serious arguments.

I think ultimately, ideas win. America may move "forward" but it is off a cliff. And I fear we took a big step backward tonight. But the world will continue to turn, and ultimately, as we debate and discuss what the next four years will bring, those of certain ideas will unite behind a better candidate in four years. And the bench is deep--Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Bob McConnell, Rob Portman, many others will step onward and we'll rebuild a better country. I hope.

Four Years Hence...

Four years ago, this country elected Barack Obama president. And we worried this would take place...And so much occurred. The worst was Obamacare. And bad judicial appointments.

I don't know what will happen tonight. I know or I guess it will be close. I said yesterday that the world will go on regardless of who wins. But damn, do I want it to be Mitt Romney!

Tomorrow

I am not sure if anyone's mind is really on work today. I think we're all distracted, refreshing Drudge or twitter or FB. We know what tomorrow means, what could or should or won't happen. There are parties to plan, polls to analyze, predictions to make.

We know the world won't end tomorrow, even if the Obama presidency does not end. But a world of Obamacare, rising debt, increased taxes, stagnating growth, increased unemployment, and a less safe world could be consequences. It is ridiculous that the media is helping to cover up what happened in Benghazi, and I suspect if Obama is reelected, that will be his second term shame. 

We freak out because of so many anticipations we have, as we all want to change the direction of this country.  We want more freedom, more growth, respect for life, respect for initiative in small businesses built by the hard work of ordinary Americans, all of whom just want a better life for themselves and for the next generation.  We all want to see that shining city on the hill beam its brightness across the sea.

The Battle Hymn of the Republic has a rarely seen final verse which is appropriate here.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on. 

We want to see God in this election. And I am not callous enough to think the other side does not want that, too. But bigotry against people of faith is something I fear is growing accepted in this country, and I fear that four more years along the path we're currently treading upon will lead to further violations of conscience rights and a newer, accepted discrimination. The left of the Kennedy, of Rose Kennedy, would not accept this, would she?

We all have one vote (well, unless voter fraud is further perpetuated). We must trust in the people, and well, their lawyers too. And we know we can contribute time, talent, and treasure, but that is all we can do. Until tomorrow.

More Scenes From Sandy

Wow, these images are really devastating. #12...wow.  Those images of intact, standing homes only a door down from a burnt out shell. It reminded me of touring New Orleans after Katrina. We saw lots with only a set of stairs, but no building. Dwellings where once families resided. Where a Congressman resided, right? It can happen to anyone, with little warning, and no way to prevent it.

I know perspective if needed, when crappy things happen like a burst pipe or even minor house issues. And yeah, some times it is legitimately OK to be bummed about it. But wow...things are just things and most anything physical can be replaced. But mourning those things will occur. God bless all of those who lost anything in the storm.